Chzo Mythos Series July 31, 2007
Posted by BleepBleep2020 in Adventure Games, Conspiracy, Video Games.trackback
I finished playing the Chzo Mythos/John Defoe series of freeware adventure games earlier today.
For those that don’t know, the games follow several supernatural occurrences through history. They started with the universally acclaimed 5 Days a Stranger. In 5DaS you control Trilby, a gentleman cat burglar who finds himself in Defoe Manor, a standard creepy Victorian manor. The mansion is (of course) haunted, and Trilby is determined to find the ghost. It’s actually pretty scary, and the puzzels are the right balance of logic and creative thinking. It’s probably the best all around game of the lot, too.
The story continues with 7 Days a Skeptic.This one takes place four hundred years after the original and has you playing as a counselor on a starship. The plot is pretty close to the first game, only in space. Even with the similarities of plot though, it’s got enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. And there’s no way you’ll see some of them coming. Don’t be afraid to use a walkthrough however, as the game’s creator has admitted some of the sequences are pretty hard.
Trilby’s Notes returns the focus to Trilby as he tracks down a loose end from the Defoe Manor incident (IE 5 Days a Stranger). The plot takes place in a hotel while Trilby shifts back and forth through space and time. This is probably my favorite installment just because it’s so freaking creepy. Playing through the game was like a nightmare, but in a good way. Notes expands the story of the games considerably, adding some very interesting attempts to create a Lovecraft-style universe. It should also be noted that this one uses a text interface rather than a graphical one, in the style of King’s Quest. Be warned, this one ends on a sort of cliffhanger, and it’s only sort of resolved in the next one.
The series closes with 6 Days a Sacrifice, a game that returns to the icon based interface of 5DaS and 7DaS. 6 Days’ protagonist is a new fellow unrelated to either protagonist of the previous games. This time, it’s almost two hundred years in the future and a cult is entering the final stages of the plan in the previous game. Honestly, this game is the weakest of the bunch. It’s puzzles are easy, it’s atmosphere isn’t nearly as creepy as the brilliant Triby’s Notes, and the plot makes very little sense. You do see the final results of the previous games stories, but 6 Days raises far more questions then it answers. The ending was…confusing to say the least. Plus, it’s shorter than any of the others. Still, it’s fairly decent, just not up to the standards of the other absolutely amazing games.
In short, play these games. The weak ending of 6 Days is not enough reason to not play the originals, and the first two games really stand on their own extremely well. Trilby’s Notes will make you want to play the final game, just be aware that you’ll have to figure out the plot on your own.
The Blacklock Files 
These games absolutely amazing. The storyline has left me speechless. Bravo ben… Bravo!!
I say that 6 Days A Sacrifice is probably the best of the bunch. It’s the best because it actually ties the other games and gives an unexpected yet ingenious closure to the De Foe saga. I didn’t find it confusing, I thought it was kind of brilliant. It answers pretty much everything I think, and the unanswered questions are supposed to be left unanswered because they are part of the mystic of the series.
But I agree the puzzles where too easy.
I thought 6 Days was well up there with the best of the series, mainly because it puts you in the dark and you get a sense of anything-goes even from the start. Also, I enjoyed the ending, even if it does take some thinking to get one’s head around, but like Silent Hill, the ambiguity and mystery adds to the whole experience.
Of course, everbody is allowed their opinions and I thoroughly enjoyed your rundown of an amazing series of games 🙂